Community Violence

Community violence can be defined as exposure to intentional acts of interpersonal violence committed in public areas by individuals who are not intimately related to the victim. Common types of community violence that affect youth include individual and group conflicts (e.g., bullying, fights among gangs and other groups, shootings in public areas such as schools and communities, civil wars in foreign countries or “war-like” conditions in U.S. cities, spontaneous or terrorist attacks, etc.). Although there are warnings for some types of traumas, community violence can happen with a sudden and terrifying shock. Consequently, youth and families that suffer from community violence often experience increased fears and feelings that the world is unsafe and harm could come at any time. In addition, although some types of trauma are accidental, community violence is an intentional attempt to hurt one or more people, including homicides, sexual assaults, robberies, and weapons attacks (bats, knives, guns, etc.).